


Adoption

by super_madi



Series: Parenting AU [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Adoption, F/F, F/M, I'm really bad at tagging, Kids, bughead - Freeform, choni, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 23:32:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15302451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/super_madi/pseuds/super_madi
Summary: Cheryl and Toni choose to adopt. After more than a year of waiting they finally get the call.





	Adoption

Cheryl and Toni had been trying to adopt a baby for a little more than a year. 

A few months in there was a little boy who never knew his dad and his mom recently. Everything was almost ready for them to meet the toddler but someone tracked down the father and he immediately stepped up and took custody. 

While it was disappointing for them they both knew he was better off with his dad. 

 

Since then the adoption agency placed them near the top of the waiting list but hadn’t heard anything worth getting excited about in a while.

So while they couldn’t care for their own child Cheryl put all lot of effort to see her niece and nephew. Polly had decided to move up north to Maine when the twins were seven. At first Polly would drive home every few weeks or so but as her own schedule along with the kids got busier they travelled to Riverdale less and less until it was for major holidays and a weekend during long breaks. 

Every time Cheryl saw them they grew up a little bit more. They were now thirteen years old and looking different each year they grew older. Dagwood ended up looking more like a Cooper and Juniper more like a Blossom.

Well not a Blossom, but the Blossom heir who was murdered. **_Jason._**

Every time Cheryl left any event with her niece and nephew she was more confident with their decision to adopt rather than use her eggs.

About two years ago Cheryl and Toni decided to try for a baby. Toni was happy to be the one to carry their unborn child. So they went through the process of finding a sperm donor and getting tested. All of the excitement came to a haul when Toni’s test results came back with bad news. Sterile.

Toni would not be able to produce an egg that was able to be fertilized. Due to her family tree and the ghost that haunts her, Cheryl didn’t want their child to have to deal with the same thing. It also hurt to know that if they had a boy he would look like Jason, and it was still hard for her to sometimes talk about his death.

 

So they came to the decision that it would be best to adopt a baby who needed a loving home. Anyone who saw the two knew that they would be perfect parents and provide more than enough love for the child.

 

They had enough money to support themselves and a child with plenty left over. When Nana Blossom died she left her entire estate to Cheryl and Toni. That included her home, Thistle House.

Still terrified of the events that happened during her late teenage years, Cheryl opted to build a completely new house right next to the old house. A place where they would raise their family together without the haunting past of the Blossom Family.

 

 

Polly had come into town for a short weekend trip and spent some with Betty and some with Cheryl. On their last night in town, they always ate at a restaurant picked by Polly.

All those years on the farm had turned Polly into a gluten-free, vegan who only ate gluten-free, vegan-friendly foods. So they always smiled and ate the salads and once they got home made a real meal.

 

“I’m gonna make some chicken breast from the freezer, want some?” Cheryl asked pulling out the chicken from inside the freezer.

 

“You know I love your breast, red,” Toni said with a smirk that just got a small laugh and eye roll from Cheryl who continued to pre-heat the oven.

 

Toni walked over to the answering machine. She went through each of the missed calls quickly but stopped when she heard the opening for the call they’d been waiting for.

 

_“Hi this is Marcy from adoption services. We may have a baby lined up for you and your partner. The baby hasn’t actually been born yet, but the young mother has read your profile and would like to meet with you two. Please call my office back as soon as you can so we can figure out a date for you all to meet. Looking forward to your call, bye.”_

 

Cheryl looked to Toni who was listening to the message from nearby.

“Did-did she just say that we were picked to be parents?”

“Yeah. Oh my god.” Toni practically ran across the room and hugged her wife before kissing her.

They eventually pulled away from each other and Cher wipes the edge of her lipstick off of her wife’s mouth as she talked. “We need to call her back in the morning. Her office opens at nine so I’ll go in late to work so we can do it together.”

 

The two continued to celebrate as the broke out some wine from Thistle House. By the end of the night they were both tipsy, and when Cheryl gets drunk she gets handsy.

 

So Cheryl ended up pushing Toni into their bedroom after cleaning everything up and quickly got tangled together in their sheets before she crashed post orgasm. Toni couldn’t seem to sleep but just admired the redhead sleeping next to her.

She always loved how Cheryl slept in the thinnest lingerie possible with her hair laying across her shoulders. Toni stroked the ends of the red hair, wishing to herself that they could have their own red headed baby running around with their own genes. She knew why her wife didn’t want to use her own eggs and saw how sad Cheryl got when she saw her nephew who is looking more like Jason every time they saw him.

 

She eventually fell asleep with her hands still untangling the ends of her wife’s hair.

 

 

The next morning they called Marcy together.

Apparently, a teenage girl from Greendale got pregnant by her boyfriend who ended up dying two weeks later. He was killed by a drunk driver and the girl knew she couldn’t raise their child alone. So she had already made the decision to give her baby up for adoption. She wasn’t just going to give her child to just anyone, and after many profiles of different couples had chosen Cheryl and Toni.

They made arrangements to meet with the young woman for lunch later that day.

 

Greendale being about an hours drive away the couple decided it was best for them to make the drive to the girl instead of the other way around.

Greendale was kind of a freaky place. Rumours of witches and spellcraft have gone back decades, and it portrays onto parts of the town.

They arrived at what seemed like the only not haunted building on the Main Street of the small town. They walked in holding hands and hoping for the best. It didn’t take them long to find the young Mother waiting for them at a table near the back.

 

“Hi!” She eagerly stood up from her seat and immediately hugged both women. “It’s so nice to meet you both, I’m Lauren.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Toni and this is my wife Cheryl.”

They all sat back down and began looking at the menu.

“Do you eat here often?” Toni asked Lauren after looking over the menu once.

“Yeah uh its actually owned by his parents.” She softly spoke as she brushed a piece of hair away from her face. “We use to eat here a lot before...”

Cheryl just simply placed her free hand onto the girls which sat on the tabletop.

I’m sorry, the hormones are a lot sometimes. I must seem like a mess.”

“No it’s okay, I know what it’s like to lose the most important male in your life. I lost my twin brother about fourteen years ago when we were only sixteen. He had his whole life ahead of him but my father took it all away due to his own rage and fear. My brother was supposed to run away with his pregnant fiancé but got kidnapped before they escaped. She ended up having twins and I don’t know how she does it but every time I look at my nephew I see my brother. So I get it, and I hope it gets better for you.”

 

The girl wiped a tear away from her cheek.

“I didn’t want to get into the heavy stuff until we at least had ordered our lunch.” She slightly laughed. “My boyfriend was so happy when I told him I was pregnant. Sure we were both still in high school, but we'd been together for about three years. We were planning to attend college together in the fall and just live our lives the three of us. He was going back home from my house when a drunk driver sped through a stoplight. The driver died immediately but Jackson was barely alive as they took him to the hospital. He died in the ambulance.”

The girl paused and sighed as the tears fell down her cheeks. “He had written a letter to me the day I told him about the baby. He put it in a safety deposit box along with the sonogram we got just a few days before. Appare,ntly it was just in case he ever died, kind of like an unofficial will. He said that if I could raise our baby without him that I should find a loving couple who could give him everything in life and more. I think that you guys are that couple.”

“Are you saying-“

“Yeah. I choose you guys for my baby.”

Toni wrapped her arms first around Cheryl and then Lauren. The three of them were all crying out of happiness with a hint of sorrow.

It was until an older girl, about twenty approached the table that pulled them apart.

Lauren looked up to the waitress, “Cassie this is who I’m choosing to adopt mine and Jackson’s baby, and uh this is Jackson’s older sister Cassie.”

She held out her hand and smiled.

“Are you all ready to order or need more time?”

Cheryl wiped the tear away from the corner of her eye as she looked at her wife.

“Yeah I think we’re ready.”

 

After the three women had stopped crying they began to learn more about each other. Lauren told all about her family along with Jackson’s. They talked about everything and anything that came to thought.

Near the end of the meal Lauren introduced them to Jackson’s parents who were happy to know their grandchild would be happy and well taken care of. 

Cheryl paid for both checks even as Lauren said she would pay her own. They walked the young woman to her car, exchanged phone numbers and prepared to say goodbye.

“Oh, also I’d like for you guys to be in the delivery room when he’s born.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s the best decision. They are going to put him in a separate room and so you guys can start being parents.”

Both women hugged the younger again, thanking her for the hundredth time that afternoon.

“You said the due date was sometime in July, do you know an exact date?” Toni asked letting go of the girl.

“The doctor said July 15th.”

“Would you be opposed to giving birth in Riverdale, i know the Obstetrician there and we can pay for everything, the hospital bills, travel expenses, all of it.”

“Oh no I can’t make you guys do that.”

“Trust me I have the money to do so and we are going to. You have two months left and let’s say in two weeks you move temporary to Riverdale with whoever you’d like and we’ll cover it all.” Cheryl said holding the girls hands as she agreed.

They gave more hugs until they finally had to leave and drive back to Riverdale.

 

 

They decided not to tell many people about the baby just in case anything happened. However they did tell Betty and Jughead at their weekly dinners, along with Veronica who told Archie and Kevin who they had to keep from tweeting it out on multiple occasions.

 

The two weeks went by quickly. Cheryl and Toni had to start preparing what they could for the newborn.They transformed one of their guest rooms into a nursery and slowly began buying clothing and other baby things.

 

///

 

It was early one morning when Toni heard her phone ringing. She was doing her morning routine while Cheryl still slept.

“Toni?”

“Lauren are you okay?” She immediately sat up, slightly concerned.

“Yeah but Cassie is taking me to the hospital, my water just broke.”

“Oh my god. Okay, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

Toni hung up the phone and ran into the bedroom looking for Cheryl. Every year on the anniversary of Jason’s death Cheryl did the same thing, she would sleep in as late as she could. She would eventually make her way down to Sweetwater River where she would spend most of the day just reflecting on the past year.

 

“Cheryl babe.” She said as she carefully woke her up.

“What.” She said turning away from the sunlight shining in from a nearby window.

“Lauren just called, and her water broke.”

Cheryl turned towards Toni, “Is everything okay?”

“I think so. Cassie is driving her.” She then brushed a piece of hair away from the redheads face. “I know this is a tough day but as soon as you are ready we should go.”

Cheryl slowly sat up and nodded her head.

It took Cheryl about half an hour to get the strength to get out of bed and get dressed. She knew that Jason would want her at the hospital instead of mourning him as she had done since he died fourteen years ago.

She took a deep breath and went out into the living room where she knew Toni would be waiting.

Toni smiled and walked over to her wife and simple kissed her on the cheek.

“We should probably get going.”

Cheryl just nodded.

 

They arrived at the hospital shortly after. Cassie met them in the lobby and lead them to the birth wing.

She explained to them that Lauren had gone into labor earlier than expected. After about a few hours of what she thought were just cramps turned out to be contractions. So Cassie rushed her over to the hospital.

 

Apparently, they were really lucky, and if Lauren would of showed up an hour later then the doctors would not of been able to give her the epidural anesthetic.

 

“Excuse me but she’s about ready to push and would like the parents in here.”

 

Cheryl took Toni’s hand and together they entered the delivery room. Lauren smiled at the couple briefly before going back to her current situation.

They watched as the doctor lead Lauren through her contractions and telling her to push regularly.

 

“Okay, Lauren I need you to give one last big push.”

The delivery room went from the sound of Lauren yelling to the sounds of a baby crying.

“It’s a boy.” The doctor said as he passed the newborn to a nurse. They quickly cleaned him up and wrapped him in a light blue blanket.

 

“Would you like to hold him?” The nurse asked Cheryl and Toni. They had previously set up a plan with the adoption services that made sure the hospital knew the situation.

 

The nurse passed the boy to the redhead. She smiled at the tiny boy in her arms.

“He’s beautiful.” She looked to the young girl who was already almost asleep.

 

 

 

Lauren was placed in a recovery room while the newborn was sent to the nursery to be cleaned and eventually to a private room.

 

Cheryl and Toni watched as ‘Baby Topaz’ was bathed and dressed in the nursery. They had paid for both Lauren and their son to have their own rooms post delivery.

 

“Have you guys chosen a name yet?” A nurse asked them as they walked down the hallway to the private room.

The two women looks at each other and silently agreed on a name they had been debating for a few days now.

“Oliver Jay.” Cheryl said with a small smile.

 

Once Oliver was settled the adoption services sent a person to fill out the paper work and they signed it, giving them official custody over the newborn. The lady congratulated them before walking out of the hospital room leaving behind the small family.

“I can’t believe we’re really parents.” Toni said admiring the baby boy.

 

 

After a few hours of alone time at the hospital, there was a small knock on the door. Betty poked her head in quietly, “Hi guys. Mind if we come in?”

The new parents nodded eagerly.

Jughead followed Betty in wearing his serpent jacket. They were always joking saying that whoever had one first would start the next generation of serpents. Betty would always hit him playfully saying that she’d kill him if they bought their child a leather jacket.

“He’s so amazing. I see you chose Oliver?”

“Yeah, he just looks like an Oliver and then Jay after Jason and Jackson. This little guy won’t ever get to meet his father or uncle, so he’ll at least honor them.” Toni stated proudly as she held her wife’s hand tightly.

“I’m gonna step outside for a few minutes.” Cheryl said letting go of Toni’s hand and leaving the room before anyone protested. She knew they wouldn’t as they always gave her space on July 11th.

She soon found her way outside on a bench. It was about ten minutes after leaving the room when Jughead sat down next to her. He held out a box of cigarettes which she declined, and lit for himself.

They sat there silently for a few minutes.

“You know Oliver will always have male figures in his life. We may not be his dad or biological uncle but the Serpents are a family, so he already had three solid uncles who can teach him normal guy stuff like sports and shaving.”

“God Jones if you teach my son to throw like a pussy I’ll kill you.” She said with a slight laugh.

“Don’t worry, Betty is going to teach our kids about athletics.”

“You guys trying?”

“Not yet. We still have somethings we want to do before we have kids, but we’re talking about it.”

There was another brief moment of silence. They both just watched the street as cars drove by.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Giving me a family. I know you never wanted me to join the Serpents but-“

“All I did was give you a jacket. Toni gave you a family.”

She nodded silently trying to hold back her tears.

“I still miss him, and even on such a happy day all I can think about is how Jason will never get to experience this.”

“That’s normal. You lost a part of you for a while, but now you have a little boy to put all the love and pain you felt towards Jason. Yeah, you’ll feel guilty sometimes but that’s just the survivors guilt mixed with a little bit of depression talking.”

Jughead took one last puff of his cigarette before putting it out on the ground and standing up. “I’m gonna go back inside. Just don’t forget that instead of everyone leaving you alone to mourn on this day they’ll now gather the celebrate.”

 

Cheryl walked back into the hospital room about fifteen minutes after Jughead did. They were all smiling and laughing which could be heard from down the hall. Sweet Pea and Fangs has arrived while she was gone and Toni was now holding their son.

Cheryl walked straight to them and kissed them each on the forehead gently.

“You okay?” Toni asked quietly and she just nodded in response.

 

“Do you guys know that you named your son OJ?” Sweet Pea asked the group.

“Says the guy named Sweet Pea.” Cheryl said rolling her eyes.

Everyone laughed and continued talking about the future.

Cheryl smiled as she looked around at her family, both through blood, the Serpents, and marriage.

She was glad that this day was now for celebration instead of mourning. It’s what Jason would of wanted, and it’s what she wanted too.


End file.
